# What fact is most obvious to you that you hear frequently denied? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 30, 2010, 7:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009 "2010-01-30T07:31:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/81 "2010-01-31T19:54:32Z")
I just bet my bit above about “gender” will raise some eyebrows, so… 1. Kind, sort, class; also, genus as opposed to species. 2. Gram. Each of the three (or in some languages two) grammatical ‘kinds’, corresponding more or less to distinctions of sex (and absence of sex) in the objects denoted, into which substantives are discriminated according to the nature of the modification they require in words syntactically associated with them; the property of belonging to, or (in other parts of speech) of having the form appropriate to concord with, a specific one of these kinds. b. By some recent philologists applied, in extended sense, to the ‘kinds’ into which sbs. are discriminated by the syntactical laws of certain languages the grammar of which takes no account of sex. Thus the North American Indian languages are said to have two ‘genders’, animate and inanimate. 1. trans. Sex. Now only jocular. - The Oxford English Dictionary, 1971 ---
**Author:** ![DadWagonDriver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@DadWagonDriver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DadWagonDriver)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/82 "2010-01-31T19:55:03Z")
Breastfeeding is healthier than formula feeding for both an infant and his or her mother. ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/83 "2010-01-31T20:26:46Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I believe and hope the last word of the above should be “autism”. > > Regards, > Shodan ⭕smack: And I spent all that time on the formatting, too… > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > - “Free will” is just a noble sounding way of saying that we are too blind to our own thought processes to know how we make decisions. That people find the above important, or good to know. > [@bump](#): > > I’d say a bit of an explanation is in order there. Just off the top of my head (defining gender as one’s mental processes, as opposed to physical genitilia): Male, Female, Neuter, Trans (Man, Female), Trans (Woman, Male), Intersexual/Hermaphrodite ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/84 "2010-01-31T20:47:32Z")
> [@bump](#): > > I’d say a bit of an explanation is in order there. It might be related to one of mine, which is about sex rather than gender: Not all people are XX or XY. They can also be XXY, XYY, XXYY and all sort of other combinations. However, despite the rumours, Jamie Lee Curtis is just XX. Other stuff: Hitler was not a vegetarian. Dreams don’t come true: plans do. Frogs are not reptiles. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/85 "2010-01-31T21:21:56Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Mostly, I hear stuff claimed that is bullshit. And I don’t hear a whole lot denial of obvious truths, because their denial is silent and internal. I read a lot of denial of obvious truths – here – because most people I know in the RW simply aren’t interested in debate or even intelligent discussion of… anything. > > However, to fit the OP… > > **Christianty and capitalism are NOT compatible**. Is it safe to say that they are in bed together? BOT, Real Vampires don’t sparkle. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/86 "2010-01-31T21:24:18Z")
> [@Shirley\_Ujest](#): > > Is it safe to say that they are in bed together? > > BOT, > > Real Vampires don’t sparkle. Real vampires are just zombies with expensive dental work. ---
**Author:** ![dragoncat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6a8cbe/32.png) [@dragoncat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dragoncat)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/87 "2010-01-31T22:53:10Z")
Oooh I like this thread! Here are mine: 1. Evolution. Too obvious and important to leave out. 2. Christmas is not essential to happiness. 3. “Races” are social constructs, not biological ones. (There are biological factors which we assign social values to, but these characteristics are the result of varying environments in different parts of the globe, and do not vary together. [Link to source](http://www.mhhe.com/socscience/anthropology/kottak_bridge/)) 4. All in all, it is healthier to be a vegetarian than a meat-eater. 5. Men can control their sexual urges. (Actually, I don’t know if this is a fact, but I’d think it must be.) 6. There are women who are XY and who are born with male anatomy. 7. People in the United States do not have the best way of life in the world bar none. (This is typically asserted by people who have never been out of the country.) 8. Labor unions can be awesome. They can be useless too. 9. Bats are not birds. Likewise, birds are not mammals. 10. Humans did not evolve from monkeys. (We evolved from a primate with characteristics of both current-day great apes and humans. Our common ancestor with monkeys lived at least 30 million years ago, IARC. That creature was not a monkey.) ---
**Author:** ![MarkD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/839c29/32.png) [@MarkD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MarkD)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/88 "2010-01-31T23:48:26Z")
A scientific consensus is not a scientific fact. ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/89 "2010-01-31T23:59:53Z")
> [@pedescribe](#): > > Male, Female, Neuter, Trans (Man, Female), Trans (Woman, Male), Intersexual/Hermaphrodite No, being transgendered does not put you in a different category - most transgendered individuals do fit into the male/female dichotomy, just not into the roles prescribed them at birth. So there. There’s one of my facts that I hear denied all the time. To be transgendered is not a gender identity. It is a situation involving one’s gender identity but it’s not a gender identity in itself. What I think **Oregon sunshine** meant is this: gender is a spectrum. Most people (like me) are more or less neatly on one end of the spectrum or the other. Some people feel like they’re somewhere in the center. Some people feel like they don’t belong on the spectrum at all. Sex is physical, biological; gender is mental. But if I were a woman trapped in a man’s body _I would still be a woman_. That in itself wouldn’t make me ‘the third gender’ or ‘other’ or ‘neither male nor female’ or any such crap. Sorry for the thread hijack. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/90 "2010-02-01T00:05:46Z")
> [@Electric\_Warrior](#): > > No, being transgendered does not put you in a different category - most transgendered individuals do fit into the male/female dichotomy, just not into the roles prescribed them at birth. > > So there. There’s one of my facts that I hear denied all the time. To be transgendered is not a gender identity. It is a situation involving one’s gender identity but it’s not a gender identity in itself. It can be. It’s rare, but it happens. I know a few (well, about five that I can think of right now) people who identify as trans rather than as either gender. I’ve known others who identified as trans or third gender for a while before deciding on a full transition. Hell, I even know one child, now 12 years old, who vehemently claims not to be a boy or a girl, but something else. Most trans people do fit into the man/woman dichotomy, true, though not male/female because that’s about biological sex. Hopefully this doesn’t violate the ‘no debate’ rule - it’s more a correction than a debate, much as a Electric Warrior’s post was. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/91 "2010-02-01T00:55:14Z")
> [@scifisam2009](#): > > It can be. It’s rare, but it happens. I know a few (well, about five that I can think of right now) people who identify as trans rather than as either gender. I’ve known others who identified as trans or third gender for a while before deciding on a full transition. Hell, I even know one child, now 12 years old, who vehemently claims not to be a boy or a girl, but something else. Most trans people do fit into the man/woman dichotomy, true, though not male/female because that’s about biological sex. > > Hopefully this doesn’t violate the ‘no debate’ rule - it’s more a correction than a debate, much as a Electric Warrior’s post was. It _does_ violate that rule, because everybody believes that they are merely “correcting” the other person. The correct thing to do in this particular thread, because it houses so many different beliefs that would normally be posted in Great Debates, is to post a response to the OP, _and leave the others alone._ ---
**Author:** ![Trepa\_Mayfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/edb3f5/32.png) [@Trepa\_Mayfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trepa_Mayfield)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/92 "2010-02-01T01:55:12Z")
> [@dragoncat](#): > > 1. Men can control their sexual urges. This one bears reiterating. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/93 "2010-02-01T02:06:38Z")
Evolution, evolution, and more evolution!!! Correlation does not imply causation. (Anti-vax people, I’m looking at you.) Homosexuality doesn’t pose a threat to anyone or anything. The law of averages is a fallacy. New Jersey is awesome! > [@FriarTed](#): > > The historical existence of the man Jesus (tho to be fair, I only heard this doubted once in real life- every other time has been here.) Is the existence of “the man Jesus” really been doubted here? That really surprises me. I’d be curious to see a link if you have one. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Love](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Dr.Love](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Love)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/94 "2010-02-01T02:10:56Z")
1. One from a recent thread: many believe that the US no longer has a manufacturing sector. This is false. 2. The average first world citizen has a FAR better life than almost anyone who has ever lived. 3. Free will exists. Those who believe that, in order to exist, a free will must have no way to actually reach any decision are just being silly. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/95 "2010-02-01T02:13:17Z")
The Bible, like anything is a book and a book doesn’t contain 100% facts. If I wrote, “I died laughing,” you know it’s not a literal thing. Most religions but not all, maintain the Bible isn’t literal. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/96 "2010-02-01T02:23:02Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Is the existence of “the man Jesus” really been doubted here? That really surprises me. I’d be curious to see a link if you have one. I’ve seen a thread or two, fairly recently where that came up. Unfortunately I can’t find them. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/97 "2010-02-01T02:30:53Z")
> [@](#): > > The law of averages is a fallacy. I would emend that to “The Law of Averages is often incorrectly applied in a fallacious way”. The law itself is a straightforward mathematical consequence of the definition of probability. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/98 "2010-02-01T03:03:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would emend that to “The Law of Averages is often incorrectly applied in a fallacious way”. The law itself is a straightforward mathematical consequence of the definition of probability. What are you taking the mathematical statement of “The Law of Averages” to be? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/99 "2010-02-01T03:08:27Z")
> [@Indistinguishable](#): > > What are you taking the mathematical statement of “The Law of Averages” to be? I’d like to know what he means by that as well, though I am sure it will put me in a bad mode. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009/100 "2010-02-01T03:25:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would emend that to “The Law of Averages is often incorrectly applied in a fallacious way”. The law itself is a straightforward mathematical consequence of the definition of probability. Are you referring to the law of large numbers? Anyway, please explain. I’m interested. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-fact-is-most-obvious-to-you-that-you-hear-frequently-denied/527009.md?page=6)